Tag: Science

They don't call Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson 'The Mountain' for nothing.In 2015, the strong man and Game of Thrones actor broke a millennium-old record by taking – or more accurately, staggering – five steps with a 650 kilogram (1,430 pound) log on his back.To most of us, this was simply an

Mankind depends on exploration. We long to satisfy our curiosity for what lies in every direction, expanding trade routes and learning to adapt to new terrain. And while it used to suffice us to explore our Earth, we’re now directing our gaze somewhere much, much further from home. Star systems

An incredible series of observations performed by a UK team has revealed the first detection of matter falling into a supermassive black hole at the incredible speed of almost 90,000 kilometers (56,000 miles) per second, about 30 percent of the speed of light.As reported in the Monthly Notices of the

A Southwest Research Institute scientist is using big data to help the scientific community characterize exoplanets, particularly alien worlds orbiting nearby stars. Of particular interest are exoplanets that could harbor life."At first scientists focused on temperatures, looking for exoplanets in the 'Goldilocks zone'—neither too close, nor too far from the

They mystery of why a young star dims every so often may have just been solved. For the first time, researchers have observed what they think may be a star hoovering up the debris after a nearby collision between two planets.It's not Tabby's Star, sorry everyone. But it's actually been

If we're going to head out into interstellar space one day, we might want to go equipped with some heavy-duty degreaser. New research has found that the vast intervals of space aren't always filled with dry dust, but often contain a mist of greasy molecules.And there's a lot of space

The plumes of salty water shooting out of Saturn's ocean moon Enceladus have just ponied up one of the most significant ingredients for habitability: large organic molecules rich in carbon.It's a discovery that suggests a thin, organic rich film atop the oceanic water table - very similar to the sea

A mysterious cataclysm in a neighboring galaxy was spotted in the sky above Hawaii last week, sending astronomers around the world scrambling to understand the source of the staggeringly brilliant flash."I've never seen anything like this before in the local universe," said Stephen Smartt, an astrophysicist at Queen's University Belfast

(Inside Science) – When it comes to looking for alien life, scientists mostly focus on where there is water. Now researchers suggest that looking at "bioessential" elements such as phosphorus and molybdenum could help judge a world's potential for life.There is life virtually wherever there is water on Earth, from

Over 3,700 exoplanets have been found lurking around our universe, and although each has its own unique set of characteristics, the vast majority have one thing in common: they orbit a single star. Researchers once believed that it would be near impossible for planets to survive outside of single-star systems,

Venus is not a hospitable place for humans. The planet is covered in thick, billowing sulfuric acid clouds, underneath which temperatures reach nearly a thousand degrees Fahrenheit. If you were unfortunate enough to stand on Venus’ volcano-spotted surface, you would feel 100 times more pressure than you would standing on

In humanity's search for life outside our Solar System, one of the best places scientists have considered is Alpha Centauri, a system containing the three nearest stars beyond our Sun.A new study that has involved monitoring of Alpha Centauri for more than a decade by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory provides